reciate quality, difficulties of
logging, and such kindred practical matters.

First of all he walked over the country at large, to find where the best
timber lay. This was a matter of tramping; though often on an elevation
he succeeded in climbing a tall tree whence he caught bird's-eye views
of the country at large. He always carried his gun with him, and was
prepared at a moment's notice to seem engaged in hunting,--either for
game or for spots in which later to set his traps. The expedient was,
however, unnecessary.

Next he ascertained the geographical location of the different clumps
and forests, entering the sections, the quarter-sections, even the
separate forties in his note-book; taking in only the "descriptions"
containing the best pine.

Finally he wrote accurate notes concerning the topography of each and
every pine district,--the lay of the land; the hills, ravines, swamps,
and valleys; the distance from the river; the character of the soil. In
short, he accumulated all the information he could by which the cost of
logging might be estimated.

The work went much quicker than he had anticipated, mainly because he
could give his entire attention to it. Injin Charley attended to the
commissary, with a delight in the process that removed it from the
category of work. When it rained, an infrequent occurrence, the two hung
Thorpe's rubber blankets before the opening of the driest shelter,
and waited philosophically for the weather to clear. Injin Charley had
finished the first canoe, and was now leisurely at work on another.
Thorpe had filled his note-book with the class of statistics just
described. He decided now to attempt an estimate of the timber.

For this he had really too little experience. He knew it, but determined
to do his best. The weak point of his whole scheme lay in that it was
going to be impossible for him to allow the prospective purchaser a
chance of examining the pine. That difficulty Thorpe hoped to overcome
by inspiring personal confidence in himself. If he failed to do so, he
might return with a landlooker whom the investor trusted, and the two
could re-enact the comedy of this summer. Thorpe hoped, however, to
avoid the necessity. It would be too dangerous. He set about a rough
estimate of the timber.

Injin Charley intended evidently to work up a trade in buckskin during
the coming winter. Although the skins were in poor condition at this
time of the year, he tanned three more, a